There’s a lot to be said right now about the lack of original IP being created for the current young generation. What with Beavis and Butt-Head, Daria and other talismanic 90’s content being reprised, kids these days have had to get used to hand-me-downs, as brilliant and entertaining as they may be. While the following might technically be angled towards children, this one is for us, the much older ‘children’ – Sharkboy and Lavagirl are back.
News broke over night that the O.G superhero duo will be returning as part of the upcoming Netflix production, We Can Be Heroes, helmed by none other than Robert Rodriguez, the original creator of Sharkboy and Lavagirl, as well as the cinematic universe in which they exist – the Spy Kids cinematic universe, of course.
It’s been a minute since the characters filled the big screens, with their last outing being 2005’s The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D, and it would seem a lot has happened in that time. Most importantly, they’re parents now.
Entertainment Weekly have confirmed that Taylor Dooley will be reprising her role as Lavagirl however Taylor Lautner will, heartbreakingly, not be doing the same for Sharkboy, as he did with the original releases. Instead, the role will be handled by JJ Dashnaw. For those playing at home, he also featured in the original 2001 Sky Kids film as the father of Brat.
Further details are few and far between at this stage, but what we do know is Sharkboy and Lavagirl have a half-shark daughter, Guppy.
We also have a rough plot outline: That the film will follow a team of superhero children tasked with saving their superhero parents, some of whom will include The Mandalorian’s Pedro Pascal and The Dark Knight’s Christian Bale.
Speaking with EW, Rodriguez explained that the new film is a direct reaction to the ongoing pandemic. “A lot of families have spent a lot of time together. I’ve been getting calls from all kinds of studios: ‘Reboot Spy Kids.’ ‘Reboot Sharkboy.’ Of course they want to. They’re all sitting at home with their kids.”
Speaking on behalf of all those who grew up with Rodriguez’ films, it’s safe to say that there’s an entire generation of parents who will be just as eager to watch this as their kids. Rodriguez had an innate ability to speak to children without speaking down to them. There’s bound to be an entire generation of adults keen to watch this, children or no children.
We Can Be Heroes is currently slated for a January 1st, 2021 release date.
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